Masters of Education in Professional Practice

Siobhan McKenna – Maths Teacher

I am currently studying for a Masters of Education in Professional Practice with PGDE at University of Glasgow. This is an online course lasting a year and a half with only a few tutorial days in the year at the university. The course is mainly conducted online and tutorials can either be carried out on Skype, by telephone, or face-to-face; this facilitates full-time work as well as independent study.

I completed the first module of the course, Decision Making and Enquiry Skills, during my probation year and am now in the midst of writing my dissertation. My proposal for my dissertation during the first module of the course involved competitiveness within the classroom. However, upon beginning my dissertation in October, I realised that this was no longer relevant to my practice and I am now focussing on Numeracy Across the Curriculum. Having now read a lot of literature on Maths and Numeracy, it turns out that our curriculum is very similar, with regard to numeracy, to that of Australia. I have also been in touch with university lecturers in Australia to find out more about their curriculum and how they support staff who are non-Maths specialists. Continue reading Masters of Education in Professional Practice

Autistic Spectrum Disorders Training

Colette Brennan – PTC Pupil Support

Society and Education in particular is constantly evolving within Curriculum for Excellence. Teachers are now more than ever required to be not only subject specialists but also attuned to the individual needs of the class members through GIRFEC.  Ensuring that pupils experience a curriculum within the class setting which is accessible and relevant to their needs whilst setting appropriate attainment targets to ensure that potential is reached in the subject.

In order to enhance the provision that St Margaret’s Academy provides Laura Watson, Lorraine Shaw and I were asked to attend Autistic Spectrum Disorders Training with West Lothian Council. The Local Authority aim is for individual schools to have trained staff to assist and support classroom teachers in their work with individuals in this category. Continue reading Autistic Spectrum Disorders Training

Bloom´s Revised Taxonomy verbs for critical thinking and posters.

Mr Varty – Biology/Science

Another article that I have found useful, which I again discovered through Edmodo’s Professional Learning Community is: 249 Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking.  Obviously these verbs are extremely useful when designing assessments and differentiating learning but I find them to be most helpful in planning the learning in my classroom and creating learning intentions and success criteria.

Bloom's Taxonomy Visuals Continue reading Bloom´s Revised Taxonomy verbs for critical thinking and posters.

Smartphones in Education

Mr Varty – Biology/Science Teacher

Recently I was having a look through the Professional Development Edmodo Community and I stumbled across “Smartphones in Education”, a free emagazine. This provide a detailed look at why and how smartphones and other technologies should be integrated in education.

The resource contains loads of lesson ideas and strategies that I know will help me make better use of our Anytime Anywhere Learning  network that we are lucky to have available to us.

http://flip.it/oqGij

Continue reading Smartphones in Education